One Year
by Crystal565
Summary: Johnny goes missing several months after Reed and Sue's wedding.
1. Anniversary

This is my first solely Fantastic Four story. I have written a couple crossovers, but not just Fantastic Four. This is set after the second movie.

Don't own anything.

_Eleven months, thirty days, twenty tree hours. _That was how long he had been gone.

Sue stared at the bedside clock, only faintly aware of Reed lying next to her. She was too busy counting down the minutes.

She remembered the exact time it happened. Remembered the exact minute she had realized he wasn't there. At first she hadn't thought anything of it, sure, but it still counted as the first. Even if she hadn't realized it.

It was a few months after her wedding, a few months after he had defeated Victor, and this time it looked like Victor was staying away, even if he was still alive out there somewhere.

At first she had thought maybe he had simply gone out as usual. That maybe he had gone over to Frankie's. They had actually started to get really close. It looked like Johnny was thinking of settling down with her, something that Sue had previously thought might never happen.

They had gotten a call about a fire in the city. Sue had called the phone that Reed had insisted that Johnny keep because he was rarely home, especially since he had starting dating Frankie.

He hadn't answered, but Sue hadn't been worried. She had left him a message telling him where to meet them. A fire was Johnny's territory. He could get everyone out without a risk to himself.

When he hadn't shown up, she had started to be worried. Ben and Reed had been a little angry, but she knew her brother. He had grown up a lot and even if he still had his moments, he never bailed out on a mission.

When she had called Frankie later and found out she hadn't seen him all day, the worry had spiked up another notch. She supposed he could have gone somewhere else, maybe turned his phone off, but he never did that, not anymore.

She thought it was a product of her almost dying during the fight with Victor. She knew that he didn't like her going out on missions without him, even if he never said it. She knew he worried.

When they had gotten back to the Baxter Building, and she had found the note he had left her, the worry had spiked up to near panic. The note, which said he was planning on spending the night at Frankie's.

Sue had stood in the kitchen, the note from her brother clutching in one fist. That was the moment she realized that something was wrong, that something bad must have happened. Johnny wouldn't have lied to her, not even in a note. Not after he near death experience during the fight. It had affected him a hell of a lot worse than he let on, at least around the others, and she knew that he even had nightmares about it. At that moment, standing in the kitchen with his note in hand, she knew how he felt.

Sue marked that moment. That was the moment that her world crumbled, that the most important person in her life for the better part of it had been ripped away from her in a way that she just couldn't handle.

Even if at that moment, she hadn't fully realized it yet. Even if she had been sure at the time that they would find him. That was still the moment that _her _fire had gone out.

She had quickly convinced Reed and Ben to begin a search. She realized that it might have been a little too early to start panicking, but she couldn't help it. With the lives they led, anything could have happened. She did notice the fact that Reed and Ben were looking worried as well.

They had called some of Johnny's friends, been out to the bars he liked to go to. No one had seen him. She had even talked to some of the girls that used to follow him around.

The next week had been pure hell for Sue. She felt like they had searched the entire city, but she couldn't stop. She couldn't stop until she found him.

Her imagination had come up with one scenario after another. She shuddered when her mind brought up an image of Victor coming back for revenge on the man who had defeated him.

It put a strain on everyone. Reed spent a lot of time trying to find a way to maybe track

Johnny's power so they could find him that way, or maybe his body heat. He had even come up with a way to separate Johnny out from the crowd since Johnny's body temperature was over a hundred degree's above normal.

They had searched the city again, this time with Reed's new equipment but hadn't found anything. They had expanded it, but still hadn't found anything.

By the time a month passed, she could practically see what Ben and Reed were thinking, that they couldn't find anything because there was nothing to find. Sue wouldn't accept it, couldn't.

It put a strain on her relationship with Reed. Especially when Reed had decided to voice this thought out loud and suggested that maybe they should get back to their lives. Sue couldn't do it. How could she continue on with all this when Johnny was out there somewhere?

Frankie had been crushed as well. The normally hard as nails girl had broken down when she realized that Johnny was missing and Sue got first hand how much Johnny meant to her.

As far as Sue had been concerned, the Fantastic Four had been no more the moment Johnny had disappeared. They wanted to keep it going, but Sue couldn't.

Johnny was her responsibility. She was supposed to take care of him. Ever since their mother had died, it had been her job. He was the only family she had left. She couldn't just abandon him like that.

It took six months for her to realize that maybe Reed was right. She had spotted Frankie out with another guy. She had sort of blown up at her. Later she had felt slightly guilty at her reaction but the guilt had been outweighed by sorrow.

Seeing Frankie give up had been the final kick that she hadn't been able to take. Frankie had loved Johnny, no matter what she had yelled at the girl she knew that. And she had given up.

After that, Sue felt like she was more going through the motions than anything. As horrible of a thought it was, she thought maybe she could have moved on with time if she had known what happened to him.

Losing her mother had been horrible. Losing her father had been just as bad. Losing Johnny was worse. Losing Johnny the way she had made it almost unbearable.

She wished sometimes that she knew who had made him disappear from her life. Whished sometimes that Victor would come back for another round. She couldn't take the not knowing. The wondering if he was even alive.

As of now, she couldn't help the lingering hope that he would walk into the Baxter Building again someday.

Sue watched the clock as it changed and felt the tears fall once again for her baby brother that she felt like she had failed.

* * *

"What is it?" Sue asked the next morning. Apparently, Reed had gotten a call, and they were planning on going out.

"Sue, you don't have to..."

"I'm going. What is it?" She repeated. It was a conversation they had almost every time they got called out. She glanced over at Ben but didn't like the wary, concerned look he always seemed to be sporting around her lately.

"Okay, but we have to leave now." Reed said, jumping up and heading towards the ship.

"There's a ship that was supposed to be carrying people from Europe to the states.

Apparently it caught fire. It's dangerous and we'll be able to get there a hell of a lot faster than the rescue teams." Sue simply nodded, and followed him.

They had been helping people into the life rafts. The ship was sinking fast, and there had been people trapped on board, away from the rafts. The rescue ship was hovering not far away, and there were people helping them.

"Looks like he got a good knock to the head." One of the rescue team came by her, a man thrown over his shoulder. "He's okay other than that. I'm pretty sure he's the last of them, too."

"Alright." Reed nodded, as they made their way off the boat. Sue was still staring at the burning ship as Reed and the rescue team checked over the injured people on the lifeboat. She turned towards them, however, when she heard a gasp from Reed.

"Sue!" Shock was in his voice and he was staring down at the man that had been carried off last, and she looked down at him. There was blood running from a wound on the side of his head, matting in his hair, but she could tell that it was blonde. Sue's eyes widened as she took in his features and she dropped down beside him, putting a hand on his cheek in disbelief.

"Johnny?"


	2. Seeing Red

So, this chapter does have an OC in it, but don't worry. This is not a romance story. I'm mostly sticking to the Sue/Johnny bonding in this one.

Taking the advice of one of my reviewers of the last chapter, Silver Dog Demon, I did edit the first chapter somewhat. If you don't want to you don't have to reread it, I just fixed a mistake and wrote in a bit more from Sue's point of view on Johnny's disappearance.

* * *

When Cristian woke up in a hospital, he was worried. He had a broken arm and a knock to the head, but other than that he was fine. He had been hurt a hell of a lot worse before. The broken arm bothered him, but that was about it.

What he was worried about was the kid. He wondered if the kid would freak out if he woke up here, and knew that that was a big possibility. He wasn't totally sure about it, but he was sure enough to be worried about it.

When he asked after the kid and the doctor informed him that his family had taken him home, his worry grew and he asked if he could talk to them. They didn't know. He had been planning on taking that one slow. Hell, the kid had never even given any indication that he remembered them.

* * *

Sue couldn't let him go. She held tightly to his hand the whole way back to shore. The whole time that he was being checked out. The whole time Reed was convincing them to let him come back to the Baxter Building instead of going to the hospital.

He was different. Sue could tell he was thinner than he used to be. The growth on his face was more than a few days old, and his hair was a lot longer than he had ever had it. The clothes he was wearing had seen better days.

Sue had the thought more than once that maybe she had finally gone crazy, and this was just another one of her dreams, that Johnny wasn't really there. Her dreams were never like this, though. He was never dirty and unconscious in her dreams.

Her heart wouldn't stop beating wildly and there was the all consuming irrational fear that if she let go of his hand, he would disappear again. She couldn't let him go again; she wouldn't survive it, which was why she really hoped this wasn't a dream.

Reed and Ben's worried and elated faces lend weight to the theory that it wasn't a dream, though. Reed tried to talk to her, but she wasn't really hearing him, at least not at first. She couldn't take her eyes off her brother. He may have looked different, but it was still him, and she wished desperately that he would open his eyes so she could see the blue in them and be _sure_.

Reed was talking again as they made their way to the Baxter Building. Ben lifted Johnny off the stretcher they had used to get him inside the building and laid him down gently in his bed, in his room.

"What happened to him?" Sue asked, finally finding her voice and cutting off whatever it was that Reed had been saying.

"I don't know." Reed hesitated for a moment. "That boat did come from Europe." Sue squeezed Johnny's hand tighter at the words and turned back to him. She didn't want to even think about why Johnny had been in Europe.

"Do you think his powers are messed up?"

"I don't know. I'll have to run a few tests to find out." Sue nodded, and rested her chin on the bed beside Johnny's arm.

"Later."

"Yeah." She felt Reed squeeze her shoulder before he and Ben left the room but she didn't take her eyes off Johnny. She suddenly felt exhausted. She hadn't slept much in the last few days, it had been too close to the one year mark of his disappearance and she had been unable too.

She didn't want to sleep, though. What if she woke up next to Reed like usual and he told her that it was just a dream, that she was finally going crazy after all. Still, after a couple of hours, her eyes closed against her will and she did fall asleep, her hand still gripping Johnny's.

* * *

Sue woke up again at a tugging on her hand and for a moment she just shifted and then she remembered where she had fallen asleep. There was a moment of fear that it was a dream and then she sat up and found herself staring into her brothers blue eyes.

He had woken her up when he pulled his hand away and now he was sitting up against the headboard, knees pulled up and watching her with a wary look in his eyes.

"Johnny." She couldn't keep the relief and disbelief out of her voice and for a moment she didn't know what else to say. His eyes roamed the room for a minute before meeting hers again and she could see the confusion in them. He seemed wary more than afraid.

"Hey." She blinked, trying to banish tears. She wanted to lean forward and hug him, but he the way he was looking at her held her back. "It's good to see you." She sort of felt like an idiot, that wasn't good enough, but she was sort of at a loss.

"Are you okay?" Again, not the smartest question. Obviously, he wasn't, and he didn't answer the question. Reaching out hesitantly, she took his hand again and stood to sit on the bed beside him. He stared at their hands. He didn't return the grip but at least he didn't pull away this time.

"You know we looked everywhere for you," she continued, "I could never fully give up hope, you know?" Despite her resolve not to cry, she couldn't help it when her eyes filled with tears. He was there. She was holding his hand and looking into his eyes, and it was confirmation that her worst fear hadn't come to life.

"You know, if you want, you can take a shower. Maybe get cleaned up a little bit?" Sue looked around the room. She had forced herself to box up Johnny's things around nine months after he had disappeared but she had never gotten rid of them. Still, he would need clothes that hadn't been sitting for a year.

"I'll have to get you something of Reed's to wear until we can get you some new things." Standing up, Sue waited for a moment to see if he would follow her. He was still looking at her like he wasn't sure if he could trust her but after a moment, he did unfold his legs and get up. She smiled at him and led him out of the room and across the hall to the bathroom.

"Here's the towels." She said, pulling out one and handing it to him. He held onto it, still watching her. There was still confusion in his eyes and Sue wondered for a moment if she should introduce herself, if he even remembered who she was.

The storm of emotions that welled up in her at that thought had her stepping forward before she knew what she was doing and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He was stiff in her arms, though, and she stepped back almost immediately.

"Sorry." She said, not looking him in the eye because hers were once again filled with tears. "I'll just leave you alone so you can get cleaned up, huh? I'll go find you some clothes."

As soon as Sue was on the other side of the closed door and she heard the shower start, she felt her legs give out on her. The tears that she had fought so hard against ran freely down her cheeks.

She had tried desperately to be strong while he was watching her. She trembled in relief that he was alive and in one piece, and sobbed in worry that he while he was alive, he wasn't himself, and didn't even seem to recognize her.

There was more to it, too. He hadn't said a word since he had woken up. It was unnatural. Johnny was a talker. Johnny could never seem to sit still for any length of time. He was the one who made inappropriate jokes about, well, everything. He was the one who only liked sports that had the high risk of ending with him paralyzed. Johnny was always, always full of energy, of life. He was boundless enthusiasm no matter what the circumstances.

Thinking about this, Sue felt another emotion well up in her: Rage. It burned through her and she let it. The tears dried, and she clenched her fists, barely feeling it when her nails dug into her skin.

For the first time in her entire life, Sue felt the desire to hurt someone. She wanted the person who had taken that fire away from her brother to pay. She wanted them in pain, and she wanted to be the cause of it.

* * *

Reed stopped short in the doorway of the room he and Sue shared. Sue was there, pulling out a pair of his pajama bottoms and a tee-shirt. What caught his attention, though, was the way Sue was fading in and out of sight.

"Sue?" Her eyes snapped to his and he almost took a step back at the anger in radiating from her eyes. Sue was seething. Luckily, she didn't throw any power his way.

"I have to get Johnny something to wear." She said, her voice quiet. She stalked past Reed and he reluctantly followed. When Sue knocked on the bathroom door and then went inside to find it empty, for a moment the anger was replaced by an all to familiar panic he had seen in her eyes way to many times, and then she went across the hall and it faded as well.

Johnny was in his bed, covers pulled up. Sue's eyes softened as she watched him sleep, and she went over to place the clothes on the table by the bed. Reed waited until she walked back to the door to say anything.

"Sue, we need to talk."

"What?" She still hadn't taken her eyes off her brother.

"There's someone here who claims that he knows Johnny." That got Sue's attention, and she looked over at Reed.

"Knows him?" Reed nodded.

"He says he found him. He wants to talk to you." The anger came back momentarily to Sue's eyes.

"Does he know what happened to him?"

"I don't know." Sue nodded and with one last look at Johnny, she started down the hall.

"Then let's find out."

* * *

Johnny waited until he was sure they were gone before sitting up in bed. He watched the door, waiting for her to come back. She was confusing.

When he had woken up, he was sure that it was a trick. She had been so nice, but they were always nice at first. Even _he _had been nice at first. Cristian was the only one who ever stayed nice, but Cristian was different.

She had nice things like them. She let him get clean like them. There was something different about her, though, and that was what was confusing.

Johnny had never seen any of _them _cry. She had, though, and he had the feeling that it was because of him. He wondered what he had done to make her cry. He had never even seen Cristian cry before.

There was something about her. Something that made him want to trust her, even though he knew that that was bad. There was something that was telling him he should know her.

He wished Cristian was there. He wished he could just sleep. If she was good, though, where was Cristian? He couldn't trust that she was good on just a feeling.

If she was one of _them_, he knew from experience that he wouldn't be able to get away. He had been lucky before. All that he could do was wait.

* * *

Sue watched the man across from her. He was an older guy with graying hair. He looked tired, and he had a cast on one arm.

"How do you know Johnny?" She asked finally. Her nerves were seriously on edge and she wasn't sure what she would do if this man answered wrong. He seemed to sense this, because he watched her warily.

"I found the kid on the streets a couple of months ago. He looked like he had gotten into some bad stuff," he had a heavy accent, "he was wearing what looked like hospital scrubs."

"You don't know what happened to him?" Sue asked, watching him, and trying to guess whether or not he was telling the truth.

"No. He ended up on the streets. He would not tell me what happened to him. I do not know if he has woken up here, but he does not talk at all."

"So, wait. You're saying you took care of him?" The man grimaced slightly.

The man shrugged and didn't really explain, looking like he couldn't really find the right way. Sue thought she could understand. Johnny seemed to get that reaction out of some people. There was a reason that people were drawn to Johnny, and it wasn't just because he was famous.

"A little while ago, I did see an article in a discarded newspaper. The way that I live, I do not usually catch up on the news, you understand? It was not the first I had heard of you, but it was the first picture I had seen. Johnny was in it."

"So, you just decided to get him here?" The man shrugged again.

"We do not stay in one place anyways. We would have left Romania for another place soon. I have seen a lot of places. America was a good as any, and Johnny had a reason to come here."

"Where did you find him? I mean, at first? It wasn't in Romania, was it?"

"No," the man shook his head, "it was in Latveria." For the second time that day, Sue's vision blurred in rage and she stood up. Her fists clenched again. She didn't notice that all three men were watching her warily now. Her voice came out in a growl.

"Victor."


	3. Two Separate People

"Sue." Reed's voice broke through. He gestured to the door and Sue's eyes immediately softened. Johnny stood in the doorway, wearing Reed's clothes and watching them. Sue took a moment to get her anger under control before she walked over to him, forcing a smile on her face.

"Hey, Johnny." She reached out hesitantly for his hand. He watched her for a moment before turning his gaze to Cristian. The man got up as well and walked over to stand beside Johnny.

"Alright, kid?" Sue bit her lip to keep from saying anything when Johnny leaned slightly away from her and towards Cristian. Cristian looked around at the three of them and put a hand on Johnny's shoulder.

"If you would not mind, I would like to talk to him." Sue did not move at the question, watching her brother, hesitant to leave him alone with a man she didn't know. "I did not come all this way to turn him against you." Cristian pressed. Sue met Reed's eyes, who got up and walked over, putting a hand on Sue's shoulder.

"Come on, Sue. We can give them a minute." Sue's gaze shifted from Cristian to Johnny and she squeezed her brother's hand before relenting and leaving the room, tears escaping her eyes once again. Ben and Reed followed.

"Sue." Reed pulled her close and Sue buried her head in Reed's chest.

"He doesn't even recognize me, Reed." Reed gripped her shoulders when she pulled back.

"It's going to be okay, Sue. We're going to help him." Sue wiped her eyes and they hardened slightly.

"You're right. We're going to help him. And then I'm going to make Victor pay."

* * *

Cristian watched Johnny as he sat down next to him on the couch. Johnny pulled his knees up and looked over at him. Cristian sighed.

"Are you alright Johnny?" The boy shrugged, his gaze flickering to the door briefly. "These people, they are the one's we came to see. The woman in there, she is your sister. Do you remember them Johnny?"

Cristian might have thought that the boy hadn't heard him, if it weren't for the very slight frown on his face. Cristian had thought, after he had found out who the boy was that Johnny couldn't remember where he had come from. It was the only reason he could think of why Johnny hadn't come here himself from the beginning.

Cristian had tried to ask him about it. About the Fantastic Four and what Johnny could do, but Johnny had reacted violently to that, so he had stopped trying, hoping that his sister could help him somehow.

He would, of course, have to talk to her again before he left. He looked over at Johnny, wondering how the boy would react. Cristian did not really have a choice, though. He needed to leave.

Cristian knew that he was dying. It had been happening for a while now, and he knew that it wouldn't be long. He would not let a kid who had obviously already been through a lot watch him die. It was also one of the reasons he had went so far to help Johnny. He had wanted to do _something _good before he died.

"I know that you probably do not know them, but you can trust them, and me. They will take care of you now." Johnny looked back over at him, and Cristian saw the question in his eyes.

"No, I am not staying here, Johnny." Johnny, of coerce, didn't say anything to that, but he did draw his knees up closer and rested his head on them, looking out at the room. Cristian sighed, and stood up.

"I am sorry, kid." He said, putting a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Your sister cares for you a lot. Let her take care of you."

* * *

"You're leaving." Cristian nodded.

"I cannot stay." He watched her. "You will help him?" She nodded, and there was a flash of anger in her eyes.

"Yes, I'll help him. I won't let anyone hurt him ever again."

"I hope not." Cristian said, heading for the door. He turned to Sue when they got there. "There are a few things that you should know about him."

"What's that?"

"I do not know what he went through, but from your reaction earlier, it has something to do with the power he has. When I asked him about it after finding that article, he did not give a good reaction. I would suggest not talking to him about it until he gets better." Sue nodded, biting her lip.

"Thank you." She said after a moment. "For taking care of him, I mean." Cristian smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder before going through the door.

* * *

Johnny wondered around the room. Cristian had left. Cristian had left him alone with people that he didn't know. Cristian had been the only person that Johnny had let himself even halfway trust since he had gotten out, and he had just left.

Looking down, Johnny saw a magazine sitting on the table. He frowned as he looked at the cover. He knew what his name was, and it was printed across the bottom of the cover of the magazine with a picture.

Picking up the magazine, he headed out of the room. He stepped into the bathroom and up to the mirror. Pressing the magazine against the mirror next to his own reflection, Johnny frowned.

He didn't look anything like the guy in the picture. At least, he didn't think he did. The guy in the picture had short hair. The guy in the picture was clean shaved. The guy in the picture was smiling.

Looking to the side, Johnny saw a razor and he picked it up, looking at himself again for a moment.

* * *

Later, when his hair was short, in a buzz cut just like from the magazine picture and his cheeks were smooth, Johnny looked at himself again and decided that he still didn't look like that guy, and that for some reason, he wanted to.

* * *

Sue found Johnny sitting outside on the roof of the building. She had been a little worried when she hadn't been able to find him. Especially since Cristian had left. She was worried that this was only going to make things worse.

Sue stopped short when she saw him, though. He heard her and turned around and Sue's eyes widened slightly. The long hair and beard were both gone. He looked almost exactly like he had before he had disappeared.

"Hey." She said, walking over to him. She reached up and ran her hand over his shaved head, smiling when he didn't flinch back. "Looks good." Johnny, though, shook his head. Sue frowned and then she spotted the magazine sitting next to his feet.

Bending, Sue picked it up and looked at the cover. It was an old magazine, probably from a few months after they had gotten their powers. Johnny was on the front, grinning brightly.

"Johnny..." He shook his head, and touched the magazine, staring down at the picture. After a moment, he looked up into her eyes.

"I'm not him." The words were quiet, barely there and his voice was rough. Sue was so surprised that he had spoken that she stood still, staring back at him. There was a sudden fear in his eyes, like he was scared that she'd lash out at him for speaking. Abruptly, he pulled his hand away and walked past her and back into the building.

Sue stood on the roof for several more minutes. She looked down at the magazine in her hands, her vision blurring. He looked the same, true, but at the same time she could see what he was saying.

The Johnny in the picture was smiling brightly. Anyone could tell, just from the picture, that he was happy. It was his eyes. His eyes were different. They were still the same blue color, but they were hollow now, unhappy, and terrified sometimes.

Before, Johnny had always been on the fearless side. After all, he had learned to fly by jumping off the roof of a building. And even before they had gotten their powers, he had always been like that. Johnny had always been a daredevil. Now, he had a look of terror in his eyes because he had spoken to her.

* * *

Sue sat on the couch, remote in hand late that night. Johnny was asleep, finally, but she couldn't. She hadn't slept much since Johnny had first disappeared.

"Hey." Sue looked over at Reed as he came into the room and sat down next to her.

"Hey." She said, turning her attention back to the TV. She and Johnny were on the screen. They were both young there.

"Are you alright?" Sue looked over at him, and raised an eyebrow. "Right. You're not." She shook her head.

"He's so...different now." Reed reached out and took her hand.

"You'll get through to him." He said quietly. Sue kept her gaze on the TV.

"You know, when Dad died, he didn't exactly handle it well. It was actually after that he started to get into the crazy stuff. Anything with risk. The bigger the risk the bigger the thrill, you know?" Reed nodded.

"Johnny's always been a daredevil." Sue smiled and nodded.

"I used to think he would give me heart attack with all the crap he pulled when he was a teenager. It only got worse as he got older. The only really safe thing he was interested in was cars. You know, how to fix them, rebuild them."

"Yeah."

"He's always been smart, but I always knew that he wouldn't end up in the same type of job as me. Johnny's never been able to sit still or be quiet for long periods of time."

"I've noticed." Sue looked over at him.

"He can now." She said her voice quiet. "He just...sits there and he doesn't speak and he's jumpy and terrified."

"Sue." Reed pulled her close when her vision blurred with tears again.

"How do I help him, Reed? What if he's always like this? What if I'm not enough to bring him back?" Reed squeezed her tighter.

"You are enough, Sue. He loves you, okay? Even if he can't remember it right now. And you're not alone. We will take care of him, alright? We'll help him, no matter how long it takes."

* * *

Johnny sat up in bed, staring out at the room. He hated sleeping. He only did it when he was at the point of passing out from exhaustion. He was always back there when he slept, back there with _him. _

He ran a hand over his head again. He had done it because he had wanted desperately to prove them right. He wanted to know that they were telling the truth, that he was who they said he was, that she was his family.

He still didn't really remember her, though. He had tried to make himself look like that guy that was supposed to be her family, but it hadn't helped. It still wasn't him. Shaving and cutting his hair didn't change that.

He had told her so. Speaking without permission was a bad thing, he had learned that a long time ago, but he had felt the overwhelming urge to make her understand, and she hadn't done anything to him.

This place was still confusing to him. The rules he had learned didn't seem to apply here. Family was a foreign concept to him. He didn't ever remember having one before, but the guy in the magazine had one.

Johnny Storm. Cristian had told him that Storm was his last name, but he was beginning to doubt that. He had opened that magazine. Johnny Storm had a family. Johnny Storm was considered as superhero. Johnny Storm was _happy. _

Despite the fact that physically, he looked exactly like Johnny Storm, he still thought that they couldn't possibly be the same person.


	4. Don't Go Away

I am so sorry about this. I got such a bad case of writers block for this story and then I got into my other ones. I'm trying not to abandon this one, I promise.

* * *

Sue rubbed at her eyes blearily and sat up. She and Reed had fallen asleep on the couch the night before. She smiled a little as she watched him sleeping before carefully getting up so she wouldn't wake him.

She went to Johnny's door, intending to just check on him, and eased it open. When she saw his empty bed, though, for a moment she panicked. She opened his door wider, looking around but the room was empty.

"No." Sue felt her breathing pick up and for a moment she imagined that it was all a dream that she had never found him again. A hand on her shoulder made her spin and she stared up into her brothers eyes. Panic was replaced by relief so great that her knees almost buckled and she threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely.

"I thought you'd gone away again." She whispered. To her surprise, he reached up to rub her back hesitantly. When she pulled back, he still seemed an uncomfortable and a little scared but he did manage to give her a weak smile before going over to his bed and sitting down. Sue walked over a little hesitantly.

"You're probably still tired." She said quietly. "I'll just…we can talk in the morning. You know, if you want to." She reached out a hand but pulled back at the last second before she touched him. "I'll be in the other room if you need me."

Sue stopped in the hallway after closing Johnny's door and leaned against the wall, trying to recover from her latest freak out. She was going to have to learn not to panic every time he wasn't where she expected him to be.

She was just terrified of losing him again. She had spent a year not knowing where he was or if he was even alive and her first reaction had been that he was gone again. A year ago, Johnny would have been highly irritated at that.

Sue flashed back to when they were kids, to when Johnny was nine, just after their mother had died. For a while afterwards, Johnny had attached himself to her. It hadn't taken long for her to figure out that it was because he'd been afraid that she would go away like their mother did.

She thought about what happened with the surfer and Victor before he had vanished. Victor had killed her, really. Johnny had been the same then as well. Spending more time with her than he had since they were kids, always letting her know when he was going somewhere, even canceling some of the more dangerous outings he'd planned when she'd asked him to.

She knew how he felt, and this wasn't the first time for her either. She remembered when he had first gotten into motocross and how badly he had injured himself once doing it. She'd been so angry, and terrified.

Johnny had plenty of injuries growing up. It never seemed to scare him, though, only motivate him even more.

__

"You're going what?" Sue asked, staring at her brother like he was crazy.

"Base jumping."

"Are you nuts?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" Johnny simply rolled his eyes.

"That is the point, Sue." She gave a frustrated sigh.

"Why can't you just jump out of plane like a normal person?" He grinned at her.

"Already did that. You freaked out then too, remember? Now you want me to do it?" She closed her eyes, rubbing her temples and muttered under her breath. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Trying to accept the fact that my brother is insane." She said, opening her eyes. He only grinned wider at her.

Sue smiled slightly at the memory. She'd been terrified when he told her what he wanted to do. She'd read all the statistics on it, she knew how dangerous it was. Now, she couldn't believe that what she wanted her brother to come bouncing out of that room with a new and even more dangerous idea that he wanted to try out.

* * *

Johnny watched her go before he settled back into the bed and leaned against the headboard. He didn't understand why she had freaked out so badly. Even if she was telling the truth and she was his family, all he did was go to the bathroom. He frowned as he thought about her reaction.

__

"Mom's not coming back, is she?"

"No, Johnny. She's not coming back."

"Are…are you going to leave too?"

"No. I'm not leaving, I promise. I'll take care of you."

Johnny's frown deepened as the voices played out in his head and he got an image of a small blonde girl with sad, concerned eyes.

* * *

Sue was sitting in the kitchen not really doing anything and trying not to worry too much when Johnny came to her the next morning. She looked up at him surprised. He fidgeted a little and wouldn't quite meet her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, standing up. "Are you okay?" He frowned, and she thought he was debating with himself for a moment before he opened his mouth and spoke to her for the second time since he had been back.

"I…I want to know." He said, finally meeting her gaze. She could still see the fear there.

"Know?" She said. He nodded, looking down. "Know what Johnny?" He hesitated for a moment before finally shaking his head, refusing to talk again and starting out of the room.

"You used to like to fix cars." She blurted out before he could get out of the room. He stopped, turning to her with another frown. "Even after…you always loved cars."

__

"Sue, I did it!"

"Did what?" She asked, frowning at her brother as he came rushing into the room.

"I fixed your car!" He said excitedly. "Come see. Please, Sue." She sighed, giving in at the look in his eyes and followed him outside. Her car had broken down the day before and she hadn't had the money to go to a mechanic yet.

"Alright, I'm coming."

"Told you." He said, grinning widely when she got outside and started her car.

"I think it was one of your safer hobbies." Sue said, watching her brother. He nodded after a moment but didn't say anything.

* * *

Over the next couple of days, Sue spent a lot of time just talking to Johnny about their childhood. She kept to the good memories, and found herself thinking of all the things, good and bad, that they had been through together. She was grateful that Johnny was listening to her, even if he never really said anything.

_"What were you thinking?" She asked, tilting her brothers head back slightly so she could get a good look at his face. His lip was split and he had a bruise forming on his cheek._

_"He deserved it." Johnny said angrily._

_"No matter what he did, you can't get into fights at school, Johnny. Tell me what happened."_

_"It doesn't matter." He said, getting up. She sighed._

_"This was about Dad, isn't it? Your principal told me he said something about Dad. Johnny, what did he say?" He crossed his arms, glaring at her._

_"Oh, come on, Sue. Everyone knows where Dad is, and why. He thought it was so funny that Dad's in jail."_

_"I'm sorry, Johnny." She said softly. He shrugged, but when he met her gaze again, for a moment he looked nine again._

_"Dad left too." He said softly._

_"I know." She said, smiling sadly. "But I'm not going anywhere."_

* * *

Reed was noticing the changes in Johnny. He was sticking closer to Sue now. He knew that Sue was talking to Johnny, trying to jog his memory. Johnny still wasn't talking, and he was still wary around Reed and Ben, but he seemed to be warming up a little to Sue at least.

Sue had gained some of her confidence back. She had talked excitedly for an hour after the first night that Johnny had come to her, telling him how Johnny had spoken to her, even if it was barely even one sentence, about how he had wanted to know who he was.

Johnny still wasn't anywhere close to being completely okay, but he was happy to see that he was at least making small steps towards that direction now.

* * *

"I'll see you in the morning." She said, starting out of Johnny's room. Before she could leave, though, he reached out and grabbed her hand. Surprised, she turned back to him. He hesitated for a moment before he got the words out.

"You stayed." He said quietly. Sue's eyes widened and then she smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

* * *

Okay, this chapter turned out so incredibly sappy. Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait.


	5. Power

After the memories hit and he talked to Sue, Johnny finally did believe that she wasn't working for him. He still wasn't sure about all this. He still didn't feel like the guy from the magazine.

Now that he knew that he wasn't stuck there, he was starting to feel a little bit claustrophobic. The urge to get out, even just for a little while, was almost overwhelming.

He almost just left a couple of times after they had gone to sleep, but then he remembered how she had reacted when he hadn't been in his room, and he felt a tiny bit of guilt for the thought.

He didn't know why he felt it. It wasn't like he really remembered her, but he did remember some things now, and he had the feeling that she was telling the truth, that she had meant something to him.

He was still slightly terrified by the idea of going out, also. What if he was wrong? What if it was all a trick? What if he came back and found out that she wasn't who she said she was?

The urge to get out was one he couldn't really fight, though. He couldn't stay cooped up any longer. It was driving him crazier than he already was. So, he did leave, but he also left a note.

* * *

Johnny walked down the street without a real destination. Everything that he had learned kept coming back to him. The brief glimpse at what his life used to be like, of what Susan Storm had meant to him.

He didn't know what to do with it, though. He wanted to believe in it, but didn't know if he could. The only person he'd let himself trust since he had gotten out was Cristian.

* * *

"Johnny's gone." Sue said, rushing into Reed's lab.

"What?" Reed turned in his chair and Sue slapped the note that Johnny had left down on the table.

"We have to find him." Reed read the note and stood up.

"Okay, Sue, calm down. He just went out. No one has him this time."

"I know that." Sue glared. "But he's still in danger. What if Victor finds him while he's out? What if he disappears again?" Reed sighed, and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Alright, we'll find him, but Sue, you know this might make him pull away again. You can't keep him in your sight twenty four hours a day."

"I know that, but he shouldn't be wondering around alone. We don't even know what Victor wanted with him."

"Sue, he's been locked up for the better part of a year, he's not sure if he trusts any of us, he remembers very little. What do you think it will do to the trust you have built so far if you try and keep him locked up here?"

"I'm trying to keep him safe." She said with a glare.

"I know that," Reed nodded, "and you're right. Until we're sure that Victor isn't coming back, he does need to be careful and we do need to keep an eye on him. I'm just saying that maybe you should calm down a little bit before you talk to him again, and that you should make it clear that this isn't a prison." Her anger lifted after a moment and she nodded.

"I get what you're saying, but it's just..." She paused for a second. "I just got him back, Reed. I can't lose him again."

"I know. We'll find him." He said firmly, starting her out of the lab.

* * *

"_Johnny_?!"He'd been walking a little bit aimlessly, trying to see if he recognized anything in the city, but it wasn't really working. Not so surprising considering he didn't recognize the place that he had supposedly been living for two years before. He'd walked past some restaurant when someone called to him from behind. A woman stood not far away, her eyes wide, obviously shocked.

"Johnny?" She repeated, coming closer to him. He frowned at her, trying unsuccessfully to remember who she was and how she knew him. When she stepped closer to him, he couldn't fight the urge to step back, a little wary.

"You're..." She shook her head. "You're alive." She stared at him for a few moments. "Are you...are you okay?" He managed a shrug, but he needed to get away from here. Coming into the city was a bad idea.

"What's wrong?" She stepped closer again.

"Frankie?" A man came out of the restaurant a few moments later. He glanced at Johnny before settling his gaze on the woman, placing his hand on her back. "What's going on?"

Johnny frowned at the two of them. Obviously, he'd known the woman at some point in the past, he just couldn't remember how, but he didn't like the unfamiliar feeling that he got when he saw the way the man was with her.

"Johnny!" He turned when he heard Sue's voice. She ran over to him, and smiled a little, stopping short in front of him.

"Hey, I was worried." Johnny looked back at the other to people and then met Sue's eyes.

"Can we go?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He'd wanted to get out of that building, but now he needed to get out of here.

"Yeah, of cource." She hesitantly reached for him and started leading him away.

"Sue..." He heard the woman call. He saw Sue look back at her.

"Later."

* * *

"Look...I don't want you to think you can't go out if you want." Sue started when she got him back home. Johnny was sitting on his bed again with his knees pulled up. "It's just...until we figure out exactly what happened..." Johnny frowned at her, that confusion in his eyes again.

"Did I..." He hesitated, like he always did when speaking to her now, though that wasn't very often. "Did I know her?"

Sue hesitated this time. She hadn't planned for this and wasn't sure what she should tell him. She'd known that before he'd disappeared her brother had been falling in love with Frankie but that was a year ago and Frankie had moved on.

"Yeah, you did." She said simply, sitting down on the bed. He nodded, still frowning but didn't ask anymore questions.

* * *

"How's he doing?" Reed asked when she walked into the living room. Sue shrugged, collapsing on the couch.

"I don't know. He's still not really talking to me so much." Reed nodded, and Sue frowned. "I think we should be thinking of ways to fight Victor." Reed raised an eyebrow.

"We've fought Victor before."

"Yes, we have. Twice." Sue let out an exasperated breath. "And he's come back both times. He took Johnny without us even knowing about it until he was already gone. We need to find a way to keep him down this time." Reed was silent for a moment.

"I've actually been working on a way." He said quietly. Sue's eyes widened.

"You have? Since when? And why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, I wasn't sure what I was going to be able to do or if it would work. I've been working on a way since we found out it was Victor who took Johnny. But, who knows, we might not have to deal with Victor."

"You really think that Victor is just going to leave us alone this time?" Sue asked, her tone skeptical. "He hates us, and Johnny was the one who defeated him last time." She chewed her lip in thought. "I just want to know what his plan was. I mean, why take Johnny like that?"

"Well, Johnny doesn't trust us, not completely, and he reacted pretty badly when I asked him about his power." Sue nodded.

"Yeah, he's talking a little bit to me and I think he remembered a few things, but he refuses to talk about that. I only mentioned it once. He reacted so badly that I was afraid that what little progress I have made with him would be for nothing." Reed reached over and took her hand.

"He trusts you some now, Sue. He gravitates towards you. We'll figure this out."

* * *

Johnny sprinted back to his room. He hadn't meant to listen in on the conversation but they had been talking about him. He frowned. He didn't like it. People talking about him like that, like he wasn't right, like he was crazy.

The people at that place used to talk about him like that while he was in the room. Like he wasn't even there. It didn't matter; he wasn't supposed to be talking to them anyway.

Sue was talking about that power, though. He shuddered and pulled his knees up again, closing his eyes. Fear choked him.

He knew that he had some power. Something that most people didn't have. He wasn't supposed to use it, not unless _he _said so.

Sue and the rest of them...they kept talking about it. They talked about it like it was a good thing, but he knew it wasn't. Talking to Sue was one thing, but he couldn't use that. He'd learned that lesson a long time ago.

At the same time, he still felt like he should trust Sue. He guessed that, if she was telling the truth, he might be connected to her. He felt it and had seen it from the memories he'd gotten so far.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to talk about that power much less use it.

* * *

"What do you think?" Reed asked, turning to her. Sue shook her head.

"I want him dead, Reed. Not contained like we did before. Dead. Gone for good." Reed sighed.

"Sue, I don't know if that's possible. Under his skin, Victor is protected by something stronger than even what Ben is made up of now. What Johnny did, going supernova, it would have killed all of us if you hadn't contained it, but it didn't kill Victor."

"So, find a way." Sue's voice was quiet, but the rage was back. "After everything he's done...I have never hated anyone like I hate him, Reed. I've never wanted anyone to die before but...I want him dead. I want him to suffer like he made Johnny suffer, like he made me suffer."

"Sue..." Reed started over to her, and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Victor tortured him, Reed. He tortured my brother, made him forget us, made him afraid to trust anyone. He deserves to die, he deserves worse. If I could, I'd kill him myself."

"Sorry, honey." Sue spun at the sound of the voice. Victor stood in the doorway with a small smile on his face. "I'm not the one who's going to die today."


	6. Closure

Okay, this is my last chapter. Hope you like it. Sorry for the wait. Haven't had a lot of time to write the last month.

* * *

He had planned on taking them by surprise. Even if he didn't like to admit it, he thought that he had possibly lost to these people the first time because he hadn't struck hard and fast enough.

Admitting his own defeat was a hard thing for Victor to do and after the first time, he had chalked it up to a fluke. After the second, he had learned something that had been missing in him for a very long time. Patience.

He'd analyzed his own actions and found that, for once, Reed had been right about him. He had been mildly crazy the last time. After all, if he had succeeded the world would have ended.

In the first fight, he had gone to lengths to get Ben out of the way, believing he was the strongest link in their little circle. He had been wrong about that. It hadn't been Ben Grimm who had defeated him on two separate occasions. No, it had been the _boy. _

He had waited for the right time. He had learned to patient for the one thing that he wanted against the two people he hated most. _Revenge. _Revenge against Susan and Johnny Storm.

It wasn't enough that he kill them. No, he wanted more than that. He wanted the boy and Susan to suffer. It was easy enough to do that. He could hit two birds with one stone. He had spent a lot of time with Susan. He knew her. No one meant more to her than her little brother.

At the same time, he could take out the vital link in the Fantastic Four. After some time thinking about it, he was convinced that the boy was that link. Without the kid, they never would have been able to defeat him. They had all fought, true, but without the kid, they would have lost.

Perhaps he should have just killed the kid when he had the chance but he had not wanted an easy end for Susan or Johnny. He knew how much more Susan would suffer if Johnny simply disappeared, if she never knew his fate.

True, he could have still killed Johnny and buried him somewhere that Susan and Reed would never find him but that would have been an easy end for Johnny and he didn't want that.

At first, he had hated Reed and he still did but it wasn't Reed who had defeated him either. So, he had taken Johnny away. His first step had been to ensure that Johnny remembered nothing of Susan, of his life before he had woken up in that lab in Latveria. His second had been to teach Johnny to follow his orders and the consequences of disobeying.

It was working, too, when one of the doctors he had hired had decided to gain a conscious. The man had known that Johnny wouldn't have left willingly, wouldn't have disobeyed orders. So, he had driven the boy out as far as he could.

Now, he wasn't just out for revenge. He was angry. He had made sure that that doctor would not be betraying him again. Now, his plan was down the drain. The damage that had to of been caused from the kid staying with Susan...

So, here he was. And even though he had planned on taking them by surprise, he couldn't help but to give himself a few seconds to enjoy the looks of shock on their faces when he had shown up in Reed's lab before he had struck out at both of them with his power, sending them flying.

* * *

Sue flew over the table in the middle of the room and landed hard next to Reed. She took a moment before she used her own power, creating a barrier between Victor and herself. She knew enough about Victor's power to know it wouldn't last. Reed stood and opened the sealed room that she knew he was working on, the one that could possibly hold Victor.

"What is that?" She asked when he brought out a long knife. Reed stared at her for a moment. They both ducked down behind the table.

"What you asked for," Reed held it out to her. Sue hesitated, staring at the blade. Looked like Reed had been working on something to get rid of Victor for good.

Reaching out, Sue touched the handle. The past year flashed before her eyes. The blind panic she had felt when she realized that Johnny was missing, the desperation when she realized that Reed couldn't find him and what that meant. The misery she had been in over the year that she had been without her brother.

Then, there was the overwhelming relief that had hit when they had found Johnny on that boat. Relief had been replaced by worry and fear once again when she realized that Johnny didn't remember her.

A picture of Johnny's haunted, panicked eyes formed in her head from when he had first woken up after they had found him. He had been so scared and confused and he hadn't trusted her.

The rage she had been feeling lately every time Victor's name came up rose once again as she thought of her brother, of the way he was before he had disappeared and the way he was now, the way that Victor had made him. Her grip tightened on the weapon.

"Distract him," fire shown in her eyes. Reed stared at her for a moment before nodding. They both stood. Her force field would fail soon but Sue let it fall as soon as she stood.

Reed jumped forward, expanding his body as he did so and wrapped himself tightly around Victor. Sue disappeared from sight, still gripping the blade. She was going to do this herself. She had never killed a person before but Victor was not a person. He was a monster.

Sue stopped her approach short when she noticed that someone else was standing in the doorway of the lab. Before she could do anything about it, the lights in the place flickered and went out and then Reed went flying again.

* * *

Johnny stopped short in the doorway of the lab, frozen in shock. He had heard the noises coming from here from his room and come to see what was happening. Now, he wished that he hadn't.

There he was. The reason why he didn't sleep anymore. He watched in a daze, unable to move, as Reed was thrown across the lab. He couldn't see Sue, but since he had come back he had seen her disappeared from sight a few times so she could still be there.

Johnny did find out where she was when _he _reached out and grabbed a hold of something Johnny couldn't see and Sue became visible, struggling against the grip on her throat. Something clattered to the floor next to her feet as _he _lifted her up.

"Johnny...get out of here," she managed to choke the words out before the grip on her throat tightened.

"Oh, no. He's not going anywhere, are you?" _His _eyes turned to Johnny and Johnny stood frozen. He couldn't move, everything he had learned from this man telling him he _couldn't _move.

When eye contact was broken, Johnny was finally able to look at Sue again. There was pain and fear in her eyes. The memory hit him with a force that almost brought him to his knees.

__

He saw it and felt it clearly. His sister lying on the ground, bleeding from a wound on her chest. She and the others linked hands and Johnny didn't hesitate before placing his on top of theirs.

He felt it too when he took one last look at Sue. She was fading, dying, and he felt the blind panic that she would die before he got back. He'd known what he had to do but he didn't want to leave her. He couldn't lose her. If she died, he wouldn't be able to handle it...

He was still lost in that memory, in that panic he had felt when she had been dying sometime ago and one thought kept replaying over and over again in his head. He _couldn't _lose her.

Without realizing what he was doing, he was moving. Picking up what Sue had dropped and swinging it towards who was hurting her, who was taking her away from him.

* * *

Sue felt herself fading. She knew she was going to die this time. Ben was gone to Alicia's. Victor had more than likely planned it that way; Reed was across the room, hurt, and her brother...

She struggled harder against his grip at the thought of her brother. It was no use, though. There was no way she could break Victor's grip. She felt herself fading. She had just closed her eyes when the grip slackened and she fell to the ground.

She put a hand to her throat and kept her eyes closed as she pulled in a breath. Her throat burned. She opened her eyes again and froze in shock. Victor had not let her go willingly.

He was lying on his back, the knife that Reed had made protruding from his chest. Looking to the side, she found her brother sitting against the wall. His knees were pulled up and he was staring at Victor.

"Johnny?" Her voice was a quiet rasp and she barely got the word out. She crawled over to her brother. Taking his face in her hands, she felt tears forming at the pain in his eyes. He shouldn't have had to do this.

"Johnny?" She repeated, forcing him to look at her. He met her eyes and for a moment he was still.

"Sue?" He moved then and before she knew what was happening, he was hugging her to him, clinging to her.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay," she said quietly, rubbing a hand on his back. He buried his head in her neck and after a moment she felt the tears staining her shirt.

* * *

Sue watched the clock, waiting for it to turn as she leaned back on the couch. Two years. Two years since Johnny had disappeared. One year since she had gotten him back.

She looked up when the door opened and Johnny walked in, a grin planted firmly on his face. She focused on the fact that it reached his eyes and not on the fact that even after a year, Johnny still never stayed out past midnight.

"Hey," he plopped down on the couch next to her, "what are you doing up?" She shrugged.

"Just marking the date." Johnny nodded, glancing over at the clock as well, a dark look passing over his eyes.

Johnny remembered almost everything now. His memories had come back slowly and so had his attitude. He still refused to tell her the details of what had happened to him back in Victor's lab. She could still see that dark, haunted look cross his eyes every now and then. He still had nightmares about it but he was getting better.

She guessed that he would never be the same and that he would never share the details. She was just happy that she had him back and that Victor could never hurt him again. She still wished that it hadn't been him that had to do it though.

Slouching down on the couch, he rested his head on her shoulder and she took his hand. He didn't want to be alone tonight, she could tell that and neither did she. She still had nightmares about that year that he had been gone.

"I'm not going anywhere," she assured him, resting her head on top of his and she felt the tension leave his body as he let himself rest.


End file.
